Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 on hold

The movie was set to go into pre-production soon with principal photography slated to begin this winter, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, crew members preparing for pre-production have been let go and told they can find other work. This comes after director James Gunn, 52, was sacked by Disney in light of a series of controversial tweets.

Alan Horn, Walt Disney Studios chairman, previously issued a statement in which he detailed the reasons for sacking the director. He said: ‘’The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him.’’

However, the ‘Guardians’ cast subsequently issued a joint statement in which they called for James’ return.

The cast - which also includes Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista - said: ‘’We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. ‘’In that time, we’ve been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him.’’